Dutch Colonial is a style of domestic architecture, primarily characterized by gambrel roofs having curved eaves along the length of the house. Modern versions built in the early 20th century are more accurately referred to as "Dutch Colonial Revival", a subtype of the Colonial Revival style.
The modern use of the term is to indicate a broad gambrel roof with flaring eaves that extend over the long sides, resembling a barn in construction. [1] The early houses built by settlers were often a single room, with additions added to either end (or short side) and very often a porch along both long sides. Typically, walls were made of stone and a chimney was located on one or both ends. Common were double-hung sash windows with outward swinging wood shutters and a central double Dutch door.
Settlers of the Dutch colonies in New York, Delaware, New Jersey, and western Connecticut built these homes in ways familiar to the regions of Europe from which they came, like the Low Countries, the Palatine parts of Germany, and Huguenot regions of France. [2] Used for its modern meaning of "gambrel-roofed house", the term does not reflect the fact that housing styles in Dutch-founded communities in New York evolved over time. In the Hudson Valley, for example, the use of brick, or brick and stone is perhaps more characteristic of Dutch Colonial houses than is their use of a gambrel roof. In Albany and Ulster Counties, frame houses were almost unknown before 1776, while in Dutchess and Westchester Counties, the presence of a greater proportion of settlers with English roots popularised more construction of wood-frame houses. [3] : 22 After a period of log cabin and bank-dugout construction, the use of the inverted "V" roof shape was common. The gambrel roof was used later, predominantly between 1725 and 1775, although examples can be found from as early as 1705. [3] : 23 The general rule before 1776 was to build houses that were only one-and-a-half stories high, except in Albany, where there were a greater proportion of two-story houses. Fine examples of these houses can be found today, like those in the Huguenot Street Historic District of New Paltz, New York.
In the American colonies both the Dutch and Germans plus others along the Rhine region of Europe contributed to the Dutch fashion. Three easily accessible examples of Dutch (Netherlands or German) architecture can be seen; 1+1⁄2-story 1676 Jan Martense Schenck House in the Brooklyn Museum, 1+1⁄2-story 1730s Schenck House located in the "Old Beth Page" Historic Village, and the two-story 1808 Gideon Tucker House at No. 2 White St at Broadway in Manhattan. All three represent distinctly Dutch (Netherlands-German) styles using "H-frame" for construction, wood clapboard, large rooms, double hung windows, off set front entry doors, sharply sloped roofs, and large "open" fireplaces. Often there is a hipped roof, or curved eves, but not always. Barns in the Dutch-German fashion share the same attributes. [4] [5] [6]
Examples of hipped and not hipped roofs can be seen on the three examples provided above. The 1676 and 1730 Schenck houses are examples of Dutch houses with "H-frame" construction but without the "hipped" roof. The 1730 Schenck house has the distinctive "curved eves". Hips can be in a few different styles. The more common being a Mansard as known in Europe or "gambrel" as known in American English, both having two slopes on at least two sides. The Gideon Tucker (though an older Englishman) choose to build his house with a gambrel roof and in an urban Dutch-German fashion.
Beginning in the late 19th century, America began to look back romantically upon its colonial roots and the country started reflecting this nostalgia in its architecture. Within this Colonial Revival, one of the more popular designs was a redux of features of the original Dutch Colonial. The term "Dutch Colonial" appeared sometime between 1920 and 1925. [7]
Within the context of architectural history, the more modern style is specifically defined as "Dutch Colonial Revival" to distinguish it from the original Dutch Colonial. However, this style was popularly known simply as Dutch Colonial, and this continues to be the case today. In New York, for instance, the actual 17th-century colonial architecture of New Amsterdam has completely vanished (lost in the fires of 1776 and 1835), leaving only archaeological remnants. [8] [9]
Up and through the 1930s, Dutch Colonials were most popular in the Northeast. While the original design was always reflected, some details were updated such as the primary entryway moving from the end to the long side of the house. The more modern versions also varied a great deal with regard to materials used, architectural details, and size. For example, one Dutch Colonial might be a small two-story structure of 1,400 square feet (130 m2) with dormers bearing shed-like overhangs, while another larger example would have three stories and a grand entrance adorned with a transom and sidelights.
Examples of urban style of Dutch Colonial Revival architecture can be found in Manhattan, New York. 57 Stone Street was rebuilt in 1903 by C. P. H. Gilbert on behest of the owner Amos F. Eno. The buildings to the back on South William Street 13–23 also were reconstructed in the Dutch revival style, evoking New Amsterdam with the use of red brick as building material and the features of stepped gables. [10] Stepped gables on early 20th-century Dutch Revival buildings on S William Street in Lower Manhattan recall the Dutch origins of the city. The area was declared a historic district in 1996 by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. [11]
The Children's Aid Society had a number of its centers constructed in the Dutch colonial revival style, such as the Rhinelander Children's Center at 350 East 88th Street, the 6th Street Industrial School on 630 East 6th Street, the Fourteenth Ward Industrial School at 256–258 Mott Street, and the Elizabeth Home for Girls at 307 East 12th Street.
West End Avenue saw a large number of buildings designed in the Dutch colonial revival style. The West End Collegiate Church was modelled after the Vleeshal at the Grote Markt in Haarlem. [12]
Further examples in New York City are the former George S. Bowdoin Stable at 149 East 38th Street, 119 West 81st Street, and 18 West 37th Street. [13]
An industrial example was the Wallabout Market, designed by the architect William Tubby and constructed in 1894–1896. They were demolished in 1941 during World War II.
Sunnyside in Tarrytown, New York, was partly constructed in Dutch Colonial revival.
112 Ocean Avenue, a Dutch Colonial home, became infamous as the site of the "Amityville Horror".
American colonial architecture includes several building design styles associated with the colonial period of the United States, including First Period English (late-medieval), Spanish Colonial, French Colonial, Dutch Colonial, and Georgian. These styles are associated with the houses, churches and government buildings of the period from about 1600 through the 19th century.
A Cape Cod house is a low, broad, single or double-story frame building with a moderately-steep-pitched gabled roof, a large central chimney, and very little ornamentation. Originating in New England in the 17th century, the simple symmetrical design was constructed of local materials to withstand the stormy weather of Cape Cod. It features a central front door flanked by multipaned windows. The space above the first floor was often left as unfinished attic space, with or without windows on the gable ends.
A gambrel or gambrel roof is a usually symmetrical two-sided roof with two slopes on each side. The upper slope is positioned at a shallow angle, while the lower slope is steep. This design provides the advantages of a sloped roof while maximizing headroom inside the building's upper level and shortening what would otherwise be a tall roof. The name comes from the Medieval Latin word gamba, meaning horse's hock or leg. The term gambrel is of American origin, the older, European name being a curb roof.
The buildings and architecture of New Orleans reflect its history and multicultural heritage, from Creole cottages to historic mansions on St. Charles Avenue, from the balconies of the French Quarter to an Egyptian Revival U.S. Customs building and a rare example of a Moorish revival church.
The U.S. Post Office in Hyde Park, New York, serves the 12538 ZIP Code. It is a stone building in the Dutch Colonial Revival architectural style, located on East Market Street just east of US 9.
The Blackstone Boulevard Realty Plat Historic District is a historic district roughly bounded by Blackstone Blvd., Rochambeau Ave., Holly St. and Elmgrove Ave. in Providence, Rhode Island.
The Henry G. Brownell House was a historic house located at 119 High Street in Taunton, Massachusetts. Built in 1893, it was a high quality local example of Georgian Colonial Revival architecture. For many years it was home to the local Elks Lodge, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984 for its architecture. It was demolished in 2014.
The Scribner House is located on Roe Avenue in Cornwall, New York, United States. It was built in 1910 as the main house for the summer estate of New York City publishing executive Charles Scribner II, one of Charles Scribner's Sons.
The Evert Gullberg Three-Decker is a historic triple decker in Worcester, Massachusetts. Built c. 1902, the house is a well-preserved instance of an early Colonial Revival triple decker with a gambrel roof. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.
The building at 426 South Main Street is located in Canandaigua, New York, United States. It is a two-story brick dwelling in the Italianate architectural style built around 1880. In 1984 it and its neighboring barn were listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Dutch colonial architecture refers to the various style of Dutch architecture built across the Dutch Empire. Though most of the buildings were designed by Dutch architects and dictated by Western architectural styles, even the most ardent style-purists among architects could not escape the forces of context and culture. Dutch colonial architecture often is a result of climatological adaptations or the use of local building materials - and more importantly, the rich and diverse cultural contexts. In this hybridity lies the quality of these buildings. Architecture shows that the strict racial taxonomy of a colonial system could not be maintained.
The Cornelius S. Muller House is located along NY 23B in Claverack, New York, United States. It is a pre-Revolutionary brick house in a Dutch Colonial style with some English influences.
The George Felpel House is located on NY 9H in Claverack-Red Mills, New York, United States. It is a stone Colonial Revival and Dutch Colonial Revival house built in the 1920s.
The Edward Salyer House is located on South Middletown Road in Pearl River, New York, United States. It is a wood frame house built in the 1760s.
The Delavan Terrace Historic District is located along the street of that name in Northwest Yonkers, New York, United States. It consists of 10 buildings, all houses. In 1983 it was recognized as a historic district and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Washington Highlands Historic District is a historic subdivision in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, planned by Hegemann & Peets starting in 1916. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
Foothill Farm is a historic farmhouse on Old Troy Road in Dublin, New Hampshire, United States. Built about 1914 as part of the large Amory summer estate, it is a distinctive local example of Dutch Colonial Revival architecture. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
The North Broadway Street Historic District is a 28 acres (11 ha) historic district in De Pere, Wisconsin which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. It included 47 contributing buildings and seven non-contributing ones.
The Jefferson Avenue Historic District in Janesville, Wisconsin is a historic neighborhood east of the downtown of mostly middle-class homes built from 1891 to the 1930s. It was added to the State and the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.
Park Hill, also known as the Young-Faulkner House or Faulkner's Park Hill, is a 2+1⁄2-story Colonial Revival residence built in the late 1890s in Lincoln, Nebraska. Park Hill is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and is significant for its architectural features—including the house, a garage, and a bridge—as well as its landscape, nearly three and a half acres of land bordered by thick, mature plantings of trees.
